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Ryan Easley had worked with big cats for years, when he was fatally mauled by a tiger at a facility he owned and operated in Oklahoma last September.
Easley was a wildlife advocate and loved big cats, his organization Growler Pines Tiger Preserve wrote in a statement. Hundreds of people reacted on social media with messages of sympathy.
“This tragedy is a painful reminder of both the beauty and unpredictability of the natural world,” the statement read. “Ryan understood those risks – not out of recklessness but out of love.”
Visitor tours were canceled, and Growler Pines announced about a month later that the business would be closing. The animals were moved to other facilities.
Following Easley’s death, animal welfare advocacy groups expressed condolences to his family, but also raised concerns about keeping tigers. Easley’s previous business, ShowMe Tigers, was a traveling show featuring tigers trained to perform tricks, according to a statement from two animal welfare groups.
Wayne Pacelle, president of the two organizations who released the statement, said that in these types of businesses there are “no good outcomes for people and the animals involved.”
“When it’s your business to interact daily with the most powerful big cats in the world, the probabilities are just not in your favor over time,” Pacelle said in the statement.
According to documents provided to the Associated Press, Easley had previously acquired two tiger cubs from Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as Joe Exotic. The now-infamous Exotic was the subject of the 2020 “Tiger King” documentary series.
About two years after the documentary aired, federal lawmakers passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act, which restricts who can own and breed big cats – with the goal of protecting animals and the humans interacting with them. But some animal welfare advocates continue to raise concerns about the risks of owning big cats.
Getting outside certification
Animal exhibits open to the public must be licensed through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and follow a set of standards under the Animal Welfare Act.
To get a three-year license, applicants must complete an inspection, disclose crimes or violations involving animal cruelty and pay a $120 fee. Federal agency-operated zoos are exempt from this rule, but the animals are still inspected and fall under the same Animal Welfare Act rules and standards, according to the department.
But some animal advocacy groups say governmental licensing is not enough, pointing to limits in regulations or lack of enforcement.
They say animal exhibitors should seek out additional outside certification from independent groups that ensure higher standards of care for animals and staff, such as the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) and the Zoological Association of America.
The largest is the AZA, which has accredited about 240 institutions as of 2025, mostly in North America. Its organizations are re-accredited every five years by the association’s commission, and the AZA has pulled accreditation on zoos for not meeting standards.
The staff at AZA-accredited institutions are highly skilled, said Dan Ashe, the organization’s president and CEO. The accreditation requires sufficient veterinary care and habitats that allow animals to act naturally.
“Animals like lions or tigers, you have to give them space to climb,” said Ashe, who is also a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “We do carcass feeding so that… they're being fed in a way that supports their natural behaviors when feeding.”
Ashe said some zoos don’t want to seek outside accreditation because it can be an intimidating, time-consuming and expensive process.
Some animal exhibitors argue these extra certifications are unnecessary.
About 40 miles north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary addressed complaints last year in a social media post that it is not accredited through an agency outside the government.
In the post, Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary said their facility is “licensed and inspected” through the USDA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and state licensed veterinarians.
“These government agencies are the only ones that really matter, because without their approval no license is issued,” the post reads.
The popular zoo is currently in a lawsuit over acquiring more land to expand its operation.
Because of “continuous harassment by zoo hater groups and individuals,” Shalom Wildlife no longer shares where animals are from or where they go, according to the post.
“Many sanctuaries and zoos don’t share that information either because of that reason,” the post reads. “We are not required by law to share where animals came from or going to, so that information won’t be shared with the public….We are required by law to account for every animal that is born, dies, acquired, or transferred.”
Harvest Public Media contacted six facilities in the central U.S. that house big cats, including Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary. All of the facilities either declined interview requests or did not respond.
Although public contact with big cats is now banned under federal law, some U.S. animal exhibitors still allow visitors to pay a fee to interact with other animals, like crocodiles and sharks. Animal advocates have worried about these operations for years, however. Ashe of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums said the practice is dangerous and can be deadly.
Federal legislation
The Big Cat Public Safety Act, passed in 2022, ended private ownership of lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs and cougars. It also prohibits public contact with big cats, and restricts the commerce, breeding, possession and use of these species.
People who owned big cats before the law was enacted, with some exceptions, were allowed to keep their animals if they registered them with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Before the act, there was a patchwork of laws varying by state that dictated big cat regulations.
Rebecca Wisch, associate editor at the Animal Legal & Historical Center at Michigan State University, said Alabama and Nevada had some of the least restrictive laws for possession of exotic animals, while Illinois and Minnesota had some of the strictest.
She said the Big Cat Public Safety Act provides a baseline of what is prohibited.
“With the states that had existing laws, it didn't preempt those laws, but kind of cooperates with those state laws,” Wisch said. “So the state laws that are more stringent with regard to big cats still stay in place.”
She said the law’s most noteworthy accomplishment is cutting off interstate trade of big cats – and hopes it results in fewer of them held in captivity.
At the Minnesota Zoo, which is accredited through the AZA, Trista Fischer is a zoologist and tiger species survival plan coordinator. She works to conserve wild tigers through collaboration with government bodies, nongovernmental organizations and local villages, where tigers are endangered through habitat loss or poaching.
It’s upsetting whenever someone is harmed while caring for an animal, Fischer said.
“Regardless of where you stand on the matter, it's always really unfortunate when a life is lost under these circumstances,” Fischer said. “And whether it's a private facility or AZA incident, whatever the case, it's always heartfelt as a whole, right?”
Along with having proper care, she added, AZA-accredited facilities have safety standards and accountability measures. When there is an incident at any zoo, Fischer said there is something to be learned for human and animal safety.
Safety is also critical for wildlife conservation practices. When captive animals cause deaths or injuries, it compromises support from the public, Fischer explained.
“What the problem is they're doing these ‘pay to play’ opportunities, they're putting the public at risk when they're interacting with animals, whether that be a small animal or a large animal, or they themselves are interacting inappropriately, in my opinion, with a large dangerous animal” Fischer said.
Still rescuing tigers
Some estimates suggest thousands of captive tigers may be living in the U.S. – more than any other country.
For years, people bred tigers to sell to private circus acts and cub-petting attractions.
“You know it's silly to think about because, of course, in common day mentality we should be like, ‘That sounds incredibly unlawful to just sell a tiger at a bar, you know?’” Fischer said.
In Eureka Springs, Arkansas, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge takes in abandoned, abused and neglected animals. Most are big cats – lions, tigers, cougars, leopards, jaguars and a variety of smaller cats – and one bear.
The refuge is accredited through the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. Over the years, it’s taken in cats found in closets and basements. Tanya Smith, president and founder of the refuge, said many of these animals can’t survive in the wild, and they deserve quality care.
“We've rescued from 19 states now from all over the country, plus two international rescues we've been on also just in the last year,” Smith said. “So we've seen just about everything you can imagine. But I say that until we go on the next rescue, and it's just as bad.”
Even though the Big Cat Public Safety Act was passed, Smith said she thinks there is still a problem with private ownership.
She said she has seen social media posts frame the animals as cute or cuddly. But Smith stresses that these are wild animals, and when they’re kept in unsuitable or dangerous conditions, sanctuaries like hers are left to pick up the pieces.
“Be very picky about who you give your money to because you do not want to support these people that are doing it just for greed,” Smith said. “And the animals are suffering because of their situation that they've been born or bred into.”
This story was produced in partnership with Harvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest and Great Plains. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.
